Developers file plans for new Costco store

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, December 10, 2007

A proposed zone change that would have prohibited retail uses on industrial land in town was defeated last month, paving the way for the 154,000-square-foot Costco store proposal.
Video: Click here to see Brookfield First Selectman Robert Silvaggi talk about the move.
Joseph Montesano, the regional director of Northwest Atlantic, a real estate firm that works with Costco on new acquisitions, said the store is being proposed because the company has outgrown its current facility farther south on Federal Road.
"Our membership in that market are entitled to a better shopping experience by constructing a new and larger building that is also more appropriately designed and provides a better traffic flow," he said.
The plans call for a building that is about 28,000-square-feet larger than the current store. The new site is near the intersection of Federal Road and Route 133, and the store would be constructed on the western edge of the land, or the part closest to Federal Road.
A soccer field already on the site, which was dedicated last year in honor of Marine Lance Cpl. John Schmidt III, who died in Iraq, will be relocated on the eastern portion of the 37-acre property, near the Still River.
Montesano said alternate plans looked at during the design phase could have allowed for a larger building and more parking, but the company wanted the plan with the least environmental impact.
"We decided early on that we needed to be sensitive to the environmental impacts," he said. "We pulled the parking lot away from the Still River because we felt strongly about preserving that environmental resource."
Montesano added that the only wetlands affected by the proposal is about 554 square feet near Route 133, which serves as a runoff location from the nearby roadway.
Although some residents wondered if Costco would construct gas station facilities as part of the new store, there are none in the current proposal.
Plans also show that the southwestern corner of the property, which is closest to the Federal Road/Route 133 intersection, would be preserved for "potential future development" and would not be included in the land sale to Costco, Montesano said.
Sharon Fox, vice chairman of the Zoning Commission, said a proposal to eliminate retail uses from industrial lands was defeated last month, although the commission voted in favor of the change with a 3-2 vote. The proposal needed a two-thirds "supermajority" to pass, as required under state law when a Planning Commission opposes a change, as was the case in Brookfield.
"The vast majority of people said they didn't want retail uses in industrial sections of town," said Fox, who voted in favor of the change.
First Selectman Robert Silvaggi said Costco has every right to make an application before the town under the current zoning regulations.
"The defeated zone change proposal kept the regulations as they are and gives Costco the right to submit an application," he said. "I'm sure they will get a fair hearing."
Silvaggi added he is concerned about the traffic that will be generated by a store on the property, which is owned by the Berkshire Industrial Corp.
"There will undoubtedly be traffic issues," he said. "A railroad underpass on Route 133 is already a traffic bottleneck. Hopefully, we will see some solutions to that."
Town resident Kerri Swift said the proposed store is the wrong project for the middle of Brookfield.
"It's sad to see another rural piece of land developed," she said. "It's changing the face of the town. A lot of people have been very upset about this. It's going to add a lot of traffic on nearby residential roads."
Montesano said proposed traffic improvements will be included with plans submitted to the Zoning Commission at a later date.
"Everyone understands that we need to make the traffic situation better than what it is today," he said. "Costco would never open a new location where traffic can't flow in front of its building."
While regional planning officials have discussed adding ramps onto Super 7 from Route 133 for more than 13 years, Montesano said it's something Costco hasn't considered as part of its plans.
"We are familiar with the concept but it's just that -- a concept," he said. "The Costco proposal doesn't warrant us adding ramps to Super 7."
He added that an application will likely be submitted to the Zoning Commission after a decision is made on the current application before the Wetlands Commission.
Dennis DiPinto, director of the Brookfield Parks and Recreation Department, said the proposal will not affect a Still River greenway project that's in the works.
Surveying teams are already working on a 2-mile paved trail that will wind its way along the Still River from behind Brookfield Town Hall to an area just short of Route 133.
DiPinto said the greenway is planned for the east side of the river, the opposite side from where the Costco store is proposed.
"Phase two of the project could include crossing the river near that property, but that's something that hasn't been discussed yet," he said.
Contact Dirk Perrefort at dperrefort@newstimes.com
or at (203) 731-3358.